The present invention generally relates to grain handling systems and, more particularly, to a grain damper device that controls a stream of grain flowing from a discharge spout.
A common problem with most conventional grain handling systems is that the grain discharges from a spout at high velocity and almost never in the center of the spout. The drawback of high velocity is that it causes the stream of grain flow to spread as the grain emerges from the spout and the grain to bounce and scatter out from whatever it happens to contact.
Conventional handling systems utilize a grain spreader which is generally located about 6-8 inches below the top edge of the grain bin. The grain spreader receives the grain from a spout and then spreads the grain throughout the bin by imparting rotary motion to the stream of grain. Grain spreaders may be either powered by a motor or may operate by means of the force of the grain stream which causes the spreading device to rotate. The problem with prior art systems has been that the grain stream which comes out of the spout will not be a uniform stream but will have grain quantities skewed to one side. Furthermore, the stream will be a diverging stream so that much of the grain will not hit the center of the spreader but instead will bounce and scatter outside of the grain spreader. When loading grain onto a wagon or truck, the problem is accentuated and the grain tends to hit and bounce off of the load and onto the ground, especially as the vehicle becomes nearly full. Similarly, when the discharge spout is mounted over a grain bin using a grain spreader at its inlet, the high velocity of the grain stream causes the grain to spread and hit different parts of the grain spreader and either bounce away from the bin or scatter into the bin causing an unlevel condition therein
Almost all grain spreaders require that the grain discharging from the spout fall into the center of the spreader in order for the spreader to do an effective job of spreading the grain evenly in the bin. The grain discharging from a conventional grain spout almost never falls through the center of the spout and usually not through the same sector within the spout all of the time. As a result, the conventional grain spreader seldom does an effective job of evenly leveling the grain. The failure to distribute the grain evenly within the bin is not because the spreader is defective but because the stream of grain discharging from the spout spreads and thus the grain does not fall into the center of the spreader
Consequently, a need exists for an approach to overcoming these problems with conventional grain handling systems without introducing a set of new ones in their place.